Office-desk and the like.



TION JAN-19,1912.

Patented June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. DUNNE.

OFFICE DESK AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 19, 1912.

1,143,259. Patented June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

wrrnssseszy 6/3 1 6,

J. DUNNE.

OFFICE DESK AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.I9, 1912- Patented June 15, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- H I l l l r l h Hl l l .Tllliill HI I I I L I P H l l l ul l lfl n INVENTOR THE NORRIS PETERS c0. PHOTO-LITHQ. W/ |SHINGTON, D. C.

JAMES DUNNE, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

OFFICE-DESK AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15,1915.

Application filed January 19, 1912. Serial No. 672,080.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES DUNNE, a subject of the King of England, residingat London, in England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oflice- Desks and the like, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to oifice desks and is particularly designed for the use of re,,- istrars who have to deal with registers of births, marriages, deaths and so forth where books have to be constantly moved from place to place, as for example to be Written in by the registrar and then turned to the informant for signature etc. Hitherto this has been a troublesome business and the books have suffered by being so constantly moved about, a difliculty Which is overcome by the present invention.

According to this invention a registrars desk comprises the combination of a nest of drawers, a top surmounting the drawers and providing a knee-hole for the user and arotatable book-rest or carrier capable of rotary motion on the desk or table and preferably having also sliding motion thereon. A portable book-rest is not claimed 1061" so asit has previously been proposed, to use a portable and rotatable book-carrier for supporting hotel registers so that it may be placed in any convenient position on the counter in the hotel to afford access to the register from both sides of the counter.

Other features of the invention will be more clearly understood. with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a desk embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the desk; Fig. 3 is an end view partly in section of a modification of the 'presentinvention, and Figs.

4 and 5 show further modifications of details of the invention. 1 V

In the specific instance of a registrars desk there is provided a desk A with a space A at or near one end to accommodate the person who sits at the desk, and the other parts occupied by various drawers such as A safe A and so forth arranged preferably with one key forthe safe and another key for all the drawers, the top of the desk being so far clear.

Conveniently placed for use of the sitter according to the modification shown in Fig. l, is a turn-table book-carrying rest or desk B which consists of a central spindle G or equivalent about which the desk 13 turns, the latter being preferably arranged to acconnnodate two registers, although it may be arranged to accommodate more than two. Where only two books have to be accommodated, the desk would preferably consist of two sloping shelves or faces B as illustrated, on which the books would lie open back to back or edge to edge so that when one book faces the sitter, the other will be turned away from him. These shelves are preferably provided with ledges B and devices such as springs B for securing the leaves of the book in the open position if desired, and the turn-table device may be fitted with an appropriate means to secure it inany of its positions of rest. These means may in one construction take the form of a metallic ring sunk into or otherwise secured to the other side of the desk as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 at B and having holes formed therein at specified points for the reception of a spring-controlleddetent such as a ball 13, shown in the construction illustrated in Fig. 3. B

these means the desk may be held stationary in any position corresponding to the point in the metallic ring in which the holes are made but a, slight force exerted in a direction tending to rotate the desk will, owing to the curvature of the ball, cause the latter to be depressed against the action of the spring and allow the desk to be rotated. Where the rotating desk is not arranged to slide the stop can be applied wherever found most convenient. A cover such as shown in In use, the registrar in writing his entries,

will have the book turned with the page facing him and in a convenient position for him to write at. When he has made the 1 entry and it has to be signed by the informant, he turns the desk around so that the book in which he has made the entry now" lies in front of the informant who can sign his name, and the desk can then be turned 1) adapted to be moved backward or forward in a recess such as that formed in the member D Preferablythe slide and recess are of the dovetail type as shown in Fig. 5 or as a further'modification the slide may form a portion of the pillar about which the desk rotates as shown in Fig. 3. In all these constructions the recess may be formed 1n the top 'of the desk itself or a member having a recess formed in it may be secured to the desk to cover either the whole or only a portion of it. The slide recess will be preferably formed in a part fixed to. the main desk or in the main desk itself sufficiently far back to be out ofthe way of the registrar but capable of allowing the central pivot or support to be drawn forward to the center of the desk so that the book-supporting rotatable member will lie above and centrally upon the main desk. Instead. of sinking the pivot support in the re- ,cess, the recess may be formed in the bottom of the pivot support, preferably with dovetailed edgesso as to fit over a corresponding raised slide upon the fixed member.

After an entry has been made by the registrar he is not permitted to dry the ink, with which the entryhas been made, by the aid of blotting paper but must allow the inkto dry naturally. Consequently there is provided a shieldH which may be conveniently carried upon an arm H secured to the pillar C and jointed as at H H to permit of its adjustment relatively to the desk B The shield H after adjustment is adapted to be clamped in its position and after an entry has been made in the register the desk is revolved until the book is under the shield by which it will be protected from damage and the ink will beprotected from smearing. It is not, however, essential that the shield should be supported from the central pivot or that it should be adjustable as it may be a fixture supported from the desk. Theshield fur ther prevents any person from surreptitiously reading an entry in the book covered thereby.

It is often found that owing to various entries on the same page being quite similar to look at when a copy is being made, the coypist is very apt to drop from one line or entry to another line or entry and to prevent it there is provided an attachment preferably secured to the revolving desk as follows :The attachment consists of a shield E with an opening E in it corresponding to the size of the space for a single entry so that the shield is placed upon the book and the only entry to be copied is visible through the shield which renders it impossible for the copyist to jump by mistake from one entry to another. This shield may be carried in various ways or even made to "be clamped to the book itself, but .it-is preferable tocarry it on an arm F secured to the desk or to the central pillar C as shown in the illustrations, so that by'moving. the shield and arm the shield may be placed in position upon the page a'nd'pressed there by a spring or other pressure as desired. In the drawings, a pivoted arm G and a clamping member G at the end thereof take the place of. the spring so that after the shield has been moved into the desired position the arm supporting-it may be clamped and held definitely in place. Conveniently the arm may be made with one or more universalv joints such as G? G so'that the shield can be turned in any direction and these ing maybe filled with a fixed magnifying glass; I

Although a particular constructionand modifications of the presentinvention have been described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is obvious that many other modifications may bemade in details in carrying the invention into effe'ct provided always that the spirit of the invention 7 is not departed from; r

"What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is r l. A rotatable book resthaving a plurality of inclined surfaces, each of said surfaces being arranged to support a book, a shield adjustable relative to said books, said shield being arranged to cover eitherof said books,

and a spindle on which said book 'rest is rotatably mounted, the book rest being adapted to be rotated with relation to the shield; sub stantially as described.

2. A book rest having a plurality of slop ing surfaces, each of which is arranged to to be rotated relative to both of said shields; 10 receive a book, a spindle on which the book substantially as described.

rest is rotatably mounted, a shield adjust- In testimony whereof I have signed my ably connected to said spindle and arranged name to this specification in the presence of to cover one of said books, and a second two subscribing Witnesses.

shield adjustably connected to said spindle JAMES DUNNE. and arranged to cover a portion of one of Witnesses:

said books, the second shield having a slot DONALD STUART DoLLEYMoRn, therethrough, said book rest being arranged HARRY B. BRIDGE.

Uopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissionen of Patents, Washington, I). 0, 

